In the words of Taliban spokesperson Mohammed Tanif, the sentiment prevails that the "country is occupied by foreign forces, and it affects the pure nationalist emotions of our people" This is true "especially in the southern and eastern provinces of the country.

The Kandahar airport, where I had once seen Taliban soldiers showing off their antiaircraft missiles, is now a vast American base with thousands of soldiers, as well as a 24-hour coffee shop, a North Face clothing store, a day spa and a PX the size of a Wal-Mart.

Al-Qaeda and Taliban hardliners in Afghanistan conspired to "break the cultural neck of the nation" in an attempt to consolidate power in the country, according to an exclusive report in the May/June issue of Archaeology magazine.

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